'Spectacular fall from grace' for Port Erin man caught with indecent images

56-year-old caught out after online sting

A Port Erin man has been spared jail after being caught with indecent images of children.

Wayne Brian Tomlinson, of Ballahane Close, also sent a picture of his genitals to someone who'd claimed they were just 12-years-old.

The 56-year-old was sentenced at Douglas Courthouse yesterday (27 October) after admitting four offences of possessing indecent photographs of children.

The offences dated between March and November 2021 – Tomlinson also admitted sending the offensive, indecent or menacing message on 25 May last year.

The court heard Tomlinson was caught out by an undercover online operative working on the social media platform Kik.

He sent the operative, who was posing as a child, sexualised messages and a graphic photograph of himself.

Police on the Island were alerted following the sting and officers seized his electronics – they found 10 indecent images and Tomlinson was arrested.

Six of the images recovered were at Level 1 on the COPINE scale – a rating system which categorises the severity of images of child sex abuse.

Two images were graded at Level 2 and two were at Level 4 – the most severe rating is Level 5.

Defending Tomlinson his advocate said he’d been under ‘enormous stress’ at the time of offending and was experiencing ‘emotional and mental turmoil’.

He argued that the images were not for his ‘sexual gratification’ adding: “He was just not himself – he was not thinking rationally.”

Tomlinson, who has no previous convictions, wrote a letter to the court saying he was ‘disgusted’ at himself with his advocate adding: “It’s very clear that this man is appalled and embarrassed by his behaviour.”

“These offences represent a spectacular fall from grace” – Ian Kermode (Advocate)

Magistrates sentenced Tomlinson to 26 weeks in custody which they suspended for two years and imposed a two-year Suspended Sentence Supervision Order.

For sending the indecent image, which is a finable only offence, they ordered him to pay £750.

Tomlinson has also been placed under a five-year Sexual Offences Prevention Order and must pay prosecution costs of £150.